ABOUT

Self-Publishing 101: Part 3

OK. We’ve been through all the services a self-publishing author should seek help for: editing, cover design and marketing. We’ve explained how Reedsy makes those first two services easy (publicists will be added to the marketplace a few months after release). But your book is still not out there yet. So let’s publish it!

At Reedsy, we are able to make this last step, which takes you from “I have a final draft on my computer” to “You can buy my work on the Kindle Store”.

Production

The great thing with ebooks, is that the traditionally hardest part of publishing – making the book – becomes incredibly easy. This is what first made self-publishing viable. However, it’s not totally hassle-free…

The main technical issue can be file conversion. The Kindle reads AZW files while other ereaders use ePub. Unless you’re both an author and a geek, you’ll need help making these. But that’s not it, once you figure out how to convert your manuscript into a format you can actually sell, what next? How do you get your book into stores everywhere, in accordance with the first rule of discoverability?

You could try uploading it, by hand, to every eBookstore on the web (Kindle, Kobo, iBooks etc) until your mouse finger turns blue and falls off. Or you could use an aggregator (like Draft2Digital). They’ll do all the work for you but will take a small cut of your royalties.

So how is Reedsy different?

Reedsy handles both conversion and aggregation. Remember that we store your book in the cloud? Well, we store your book, not your Word document. This means that you can just write it directly in our editor.

But then we realised: if we store your perfectly formatted book in the cloud, why not also offer to convert it for eBook stores? And if we’re doing that, why not take care of posting it too?

Above all, we’re flexible. Every author can choose between downloading the ePub and Mobi files of their book for a small fee or letting us do all the work for 10% of net royalties. Because that’s what self-publishing is all about: choice, and freedom.

Partnering with Libiro

We’ll publish to the biggest stores – the iBookstore, the Kobo store and, of course, the Kindle store. But some exciting news is that Reedsy is proudly partnered with Libiro, the first independent authors-only eBookstore. We share Libiro’s philosophy of putting the power of “publishing” back in the hands of authors. This starts by opening up to “indie” authors. We’ll help you create the best eBook, and they’ll sell it.

Edit: As of 2016, Libiro has unfortunately closed its doors.

You can find Part 1 of our Self-publishing 101 series here, and Part 2 here!

Thanks for Reading

How to Write a Query Letter That Agents Can't Resist.

A free 10 day publishing course.

For most new authors, signing with a literary agent is their first step into the world of publishing. But to stand out from the thousands of other authors seeking representation, you first need to capture …

Modern publishing is a tricky game — especially when trying to figure out the biggest names within that game. Most major publishers are part of a larger media conglomerate, and a search for the year's …

[Updated 01/16/2019]As enjoyable and fulfilling as writing can be, the truth is that it’s often a solitary endeavor. While we might romanticize the focused artist typing away while imaginary worlds and narratives swirl inside their …

Joseph Alexander is a writer, a musician, and a professional marketer here at Reedsy. He’s also the co-author of the new book Self-Published Millionaire. We sat down with Joseph to talk about his book, his …